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Are you aged 16-25 and interested in LGBTQ+ heritage?

Get involved in a training programme for young people from the Brighton area exploring LGBTQ+ history. Take on a role in building a new organisation to preserve the wealth of LGBTQ+ heritage in Brighton. Learn creative skills including curation and programming, gain leadership experience and work with archives and collections.

August and September sessions now announced.

Come to one or all of the sessions, according to your taste and interest.

Wednesday 14 August – Personal is political: Queer lives in archivesQueer archives have often consisted the ephemeral e.g. flyers, letters and personal items, as a necessary way to evidence the existence of queer lives and culture. If the personal is political, then archive it! We look at different examples from lesbian memes to pulp fiction and ask what makes an item archive worthy?

Wednesday 28 August – Hearing historyIn this session we will consider the theoretical, practical and ethical implications of recording and holding material. With guests Roni Guetta from Queer in Brighton and historian Sharon Webb we will look at curating and archiving principles, take part in practical exercises and select extracts from queer oral histories for the public domain.

Wednesday 11 September – A day at the archiveA visit to The Keep; a purpose built archive and historical resource centre that holds a variety of material relating to LGBTQ+ history in Brighton and beyond. Hear from an archivists and discuss some of the ethical issues and responsibilities of this role.

Wednesday 25 September – An evening at the museumAn after-hours group visit to the Museum of Transology and the LGBTQ+ trail at Brighton Museum & Art Gallery. A museum professional will talk to us about queering the museum.

Wednesday 9 October – Decolonising heritageA talk about local heritage and architecture, and its colonial roots.

Wednesday 23 October – Visit to LondonJoin us on a day trip to London (times tbc) to visit some of the country’s most important LGBTQ+ collections and archives. Hear from the Bishopsgate archivist, Stef Dickers and explore their LGBTQ+ collection. Visit radical archive MayDay Rooms and community run 56a.

Sessions will take place from 6.30 to 8.30pm at the Young People’s Centre – 69 Ship Street, Brighton, BN1 1AE.

Queer identities explored by young people in Pride exhibition at Jubilee Library

Photomontage by participant Tom

Photoworks partnered with Royal Pavilion & Museums and Allsorts Youth Project to run two Photography Club programmes themed around an exploration of queer identity.

An exhibition will open in Jubilee Library on Friday 26 July bringing together work produced by the young people who took part, enabling their voices to be heard and celebrated during Brighton & Hove Pride.

Inspired by the Museum of Transology and Queer Looks displays at Brighton Museum & Art Gallery, a group of young people worked with photographer Lynn Weddle to create work exploring their lives and identities. They investigated work by artists identifying as LGBTQ+ and examined narratives and self-representation. The group used camera-less photography techniques and experimented with cyanotypes; a photographic process that uses sunlight and paper treated with iron salt solutions to create a cyan-blue print.

Cyanotype by participant Josh

Artist Noe Warren led another group, who regularly meet at Allsorts Youth Project, through an exploration of queer history, art, activism and community. They discussed important historical figures, defining moments and discovered queer artists working now. Using self-portraits made in a pop-up studio and photo-montages with found photographs, the young people created their own visual responses to the histories of radical, queer activism and art.

Photomontage by participant Ray

Photoworks would like to thank Adrien, Annie, Beth, Felice, Holly, Isaac, James, Josh, Kamea, Leon, Liv, Ray, Rian and Tom for taking part and Noe Warren, Lynn Weddle, Reuben Davidson, Allsorts Youth Project and Royal Pavilion & Museums’ Youth Engagement Team for enabling this work to be made.

In All The Places I Touch The World will be at Jubilee Library 26 July-11 August. Free entry, open to everyone. Opening times: Wed, Fri, Sat 10am-5pm; Mon, Tue, Thu 10am-7pm; Sun 11am-5pm